"I took a trip, it set me free," lilts Madonna on "Medillin" the delicious duet with Maluma which opens her 14th album Madame X. The record itself offers listeners just such a liberating journey. 2015's Rebel Heart already indicated that Madonna had become interested in making music beyond forgettable floor-fillers again, but relocation to Lisbon fired up the artist in unexpected ways, inspiring an album that's equal parts introspective and expansive, looking out, wonderfully, to the world beyond the States. Combining touches of morna, fado and reggaeton with off-kilter experimenta and the pop bliss of Madonna at her best, Madame X was for me the year's most powerful (and surprising) release.
